Lookin' slim.

            Long before I ever met Zach, Janelle used to tell me about him; since they are married and all. Basically, the message I was getting about Zach was this; if you aren’t 100% dedicated to something, there is no point in doing it. I also gathered that Zach is pretty blunt, to the point, and doesn’t show too much emotion. Janelle always followed those conversations with, “You and Zach remind me of each other.” I would never tell her, but I would then think to myself, “Great, just like me. I’m going to hate him.”

            When I met Zach, I knew that everything Janelle had told me was true, but I decided quickly that I didn’t hate him. The first time I did meet him, he came charging into the house after a softball game and his calf was all torn up from getting into a fight with guys on the other team. My first memory of Zach was him pouring a bottle of peroxide over the wound on his calf. I remember him saying that it wouldn’t hurt because it was peroxide, but he screamed so loud when it hit his leg that I thought he was going to punch the wall.

            I didn’t meet him again, until he gave me my first meal plan. I didn’t know what to think that day. He was nothing but business. I was waiting for him to break out charts, graphs, and maybe a PowerPoint presentation. I tried to listen to everything he was saying, and what choices I should be making, but it was a lot to take in. Then he started quizzing me about what he told me and what my meal plan was going to be! I wished he would have told me there was going to be a test. I would have taken notes.

            Janelle would tell Zach about my progress, because I didn’t see him for a few months. She would then tell me that Zach was getting excited about how well everything was going. So, silly me, I thought the next time I saw Zach he would be super excited. Wrong. The next time I saw him and showed him the picture that would be the “before” all he said was, “Lookin’ slim. Don’t lose this picture.” Then he walked out of the room. I didn’t even get a smile out of him.

A few moths later at Janelle’s show in Indianapolis we were all sitting together and he didn’t say anything at all about my progress. Later Janelle told me that Zach talked about me the whole way home. He said he didn’t even recognize me at first. That made me laugh, because his wife had just competed in a show and placed in the top 5, but he talked about me. I knew he was happy for me, but I became bound and determined to get a reaction from him when I was in the room.

I should know better than to expect Zach to have a big reaction about my progress. After all, he really is a lot like me, and I know that I don’t get over the top excited about things in front of just anyone. I was only getting the “lookin’ slim” comment from him when I would see him, but Janelle would tell me that he would look through my Facebook pictures, talk about my progress, and look over my bod pods all the time.

She and I would make jokes about the situation. Like, if Zach’s in a bad mood, just show him an old picture of me and talk about how much weight I’ve lost and he’ll snap right back to normal. I was still bound and determined to get a reaction from him.

A few weeks ago, I was at their house working on my blog with Janelle. When Zach came home, he didn’t say a damn word. I was getting pissed. Damn it, I wanted the big reaction that Janelle tells me about. Then, it happened.

On my way out of their house, I told Zach I was getting ready to start a blog. He was like, “We’re launching?” Then, out of no where he said this, “Lookin’ slim and that’s a nice coat.” He was talking about my Harley coat, but that’s not important, because he was smiling. I was trying to stay calm and milk the situation for all it was worth; because this was the reaction I was looking for. So, just to make the most of it I said, “Yea, so, I’ve lost 71 pounds and 30 something inches in the past year.” He turned around and said, “That’s a lot of inches,” and he was still smiling, finally. He later told Janelle that he was shocked when he saw me that day and had to keep himself from staring. That made me smile.

It may not seem like much, but it’s the small things that count, and because it became a goal to get more than the “lookin’ slim” with no smiles. A smile may not seem like much, but when you have the personality that Zach and I have, a smile along with a nice compliment is like winning the lottery.